When to Pull Carrots in Maryland, and How to Keep Them
Carrots are ready when the tops are full and the orange shoulders show at the soil line, which is a count of days from seeding rather than a date on the…
Gardening in Maryland
Everything we have worked out for Maryland: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Baltimore, the last spring freeze runs April 3 to April 16 and the first fall freeze runs October 26 to November 5, USDA zones 5b-8a, 3,994 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 21.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Maryland: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
Hedge Plants for Maryland: What Holds, and What Only Looks Hardy
Maryland runs from USDA zone 5b to 8a, a spread wide enough that the same hedge can thrive in one county and die in another.
How High Can a Hedge Be in Maryland? What the Law Actually Says
Maryland has no statewide hedge height limit. Unlike setback rules for buildings or septic systems, hedge and fence height in Maryland is decided…
What Do Homes in Maryland Cool With?
Nine in ten Maryland households run some kind of air-conditioning equipment, and most of that is central.
What Eats Pepper in Maryland, and When
Maryland’s verified pepper data doesn’t name specific insect species eating the crop.
What Eats Carrot in Maryland, and When
Ask what’s chewing on your carrots in Maryland, and the honest answer is: probably nothing with legs.
What Eats Onion in Maryland, and When
Search this pairing and the honest answer is short: the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center does not track a dedicated…
What Eats Spinach in Maryland, and When
Flea beetles are the pest actually documented on spinach in Maryland, and they show up twice: once as soil warms after the last spring frost, and again…
What Eats Potato in Maryland, and When
Three insects actually feed on potato in Maryland: Colorado potato beetle, flea beetles, and tomato hornworm.
What Eats Parsnip in Maryland, and When
Two of the ten pests Maryland’s extension service tracks for home gardens actually have a reason to be near a parsnip row: flea beetles, which go after…